CR #3: Gaining Critical Consciousness and Practicing Authentic Knowledge

According to Paulo Freire, “the struggle for humanization, for the emancipation of labor, for the overcoming of alienation, for the affirmation of men and women as persons would be meaningless” (Freire, 2000). Humanization means being free from the oppressor and discrimination and to simply be treated as a human and a person. Contrary to humanization, Freire describes dehumanization as something that “marks not only those whose humanity has been stolen, but also (though in a different way) those who have stolen it, is a distortion of the vocation of becoming more fully human” (Freire, 2000). Dehumanization is an act of making a person feel less than a human and taking away their life’s purpose and meaning which is for someone to be who they truly are. The act of dehumanization has a long and on-going history. This act is brought about by an oppressor, however, this is not an act that we are destined to endure. Based on Freire’s definitions of dehumanization, it seems as though humans are not born to be oppressive people nor are we meant to act violent towards each other.

Friere’s concept of critical consciousness is a tool that can be used to overcome dehumanization and oppression. For the oppressed to overcome dehumanization and achieve liberation, “people must first critically recognize its causes, so that through transforming action they can create a new situation, one which makes possible the pursuit of a fuller humanity” (Freire, 2000). Our duty as service learners is to continuously learn and analyze the social and structural inequities that affect the large amount of marginalized populations in today’s society. As what was said in “Decolonization in an Educational Context”, the goals of decolonization is to practice institutional accountability and to take responsibility for the colonial practices that were placed in today’s institutions. Dominican University is allowing their students to become critical of the systems that have been built into our society and through place-based education it will allow us to fully understand the hierarchies.

This critical reflection allows for a mental liberation because if the oppressed “see examples of the vulnerability of the oppressor so that a contrary conviction can begin to grow within them” (Freire, 2000). The oppressed have already been conditioned to be fearful of their oppressor which makes them helpless in finding salvation for themselves and others. However, once they overcome this fear and realize the many weaknesses of their oppressor then they can achieve liberation and finally gain the confidence they need to take action.

According to Freire in his discussion with Horton, “without practice there’s no knowledge; at least it’s difficult to know without practice. We have to have a certain theoretical kind of practice in order to know also, But practice in itself is not its theory” (Horton, et. al., 1990). Practice and knowledge go hand-in-hand for without knowledge we would never be able to fully practice but through practice we gain more knowledge. In order to have a theoretical kind of practice we must have knowledge which is the “theory” that Freire and Horton thought of as “authentic theory.” Obtaining authentic knowledge means to realize that knowledge is also always constantly changing with the world around it. Knowledge is never-ending and will constantly be discussed in order to seek the truth or your own truth. Horton was very open with learning from others and through practice but not only that, he was very comfortable with sharing his knowledge with other people. He had an idea that neutrality cannot be achieved and that in certain discussion we need to claim an opinion.

During my community engagement at the Ritter Center, I think that it is definitely important to practice authentic knowledge in a way where I could be transparent about my beliefs. It is important to always be curious and critical of the other practices around and I should not be afraid to incite a political discussion with someone from my community partner. Some of the concrete steps that I could take is to ask staff members or clients about their thoughts on housing and homeless in Marin City. This would definitely be a good starting point to see the difference in answers throughout the hierarchy.